


New People

by randomling



Category: Kaleidotrope (Podcast)
Genre: Cats, Fluff, Future Fic, Long-Distance Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Married Life, Radio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomling/pseuds/randomling
Summary: Harrison wishes this was a video call, but he has to drive.
Relationships: Drew/Harrison (Kaleidotrope)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 55





	New People

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to [CrayolaRainbow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrayolaRainbow/pseuds/CrayolaRainbow) for Drew and Harrison's canonical last names.

"It's three o'clock and you're listening to Whistle FM. I'm Drew Collins, here with your mid-afternoon hits. In an hour we've got Jody Laurenson to see you all home from work, but in the meantime, here's the news..."

It's four o'clock in Boise, but the rental car has internet radio - and so does Harrison's phone, in case that goes out. He doesn't miss a second of Drew's show, unless he's in class or something, and school is finally, _finally_ out for the summer. As of Tuesday, he's _done_.

Now it's Thursday. He's pretty sure he has everything. The movers went ahead yesterday with everything that wouldn't fit in Harrison's enormous moving-day suitcase; he turned in the keys to the apartment a half an hour ago. Now it's just him, the suitcase, his backpack, and the rental, and Drew's familiar radio voice to guide him all the way to the airport.

Drew and the cats have been at the new apartment for seventeen endless weeks. Harrison shoved the paper calendar in his suitcase, one of the last few things along with his toothbrush and razor, because marking the days off in red magic marker is a tradition. He hates that it has to be a tradition - only _one_ time in eleven years of marriage have they managed to move together instead of separately - but if one of them always has to move ahead of the other, because Drew has a contract or Harrison has to finish out the semester, at least they have traditions to hold them together.

Drew finishes with the local news in Redmond, WA, and puts on a song, and Harrison smiles. They have traditions, and this is one of them: the song is _Hotel California_.

Seconds later, Harrison pushes the button to answer Drew's call.

"Hey, sweetheart," says Drew. In his phone voice, not his radio voice. The distinction is important. Harrison misses his in-person voice, but it's not long now.

"Hey," Harrison says, grinning. "So, six minutes?"

"Six minutes," Drew confirms. "One of these days I'm going to treat my listeners to seventeen minutes of prog rock."

Harrison laughs. The first time they moved apart, there were some pretty intense discussions of what track lengths you could get away with on the air. He's pretty sure Drew has a list of the longest radio-acceptable tracks somewhere. "Or that twelve-minute Meat Loaf thingy."

"Bat Out of Hell," Drew says, and then laughs too. "I'm pretty sure Emily would kill me."

"You guys are still getting along, then?"

"Yeah. They're pretty cool."

"They can hear you right now, right?"

"Yep, probably." It's not like Drew has time to get up and leave the booth. "So how are you doing? All ready to go?"

"I'm on the road already!"

"Your flight's not for two and a half hours," Drew points out gently.

"I have reading I can do at the airport. Iiiii didn't want to miss my flight this time." When they moved _to_ Idaho, Harrison trailed behind Drew, and for the same reason - Drew had to start his new job before the end of the semester. Harrison left the apartment too late, got stuck in rush hour traffic, and cost them money they couldn't afford rescheduling his flight. He doesn't plan on repeating _that_ mistake.

Everything is much easier when he has Drew around to make the schedules.

"Just as long as you're not stressing yourself out too much," Drew says, his voice still gentle. "Moving states, already stressful."

"You did most of the stressful stuff."

" _You_ dealt with the movers."

"I don't mind that part so much. You did like eighty per cent of the packing."

"I don't mind _that_ part so much."

Harrison wishes this was a video call, but he has to drive. He wishes he could smile at Drew. Eleven years, six cities, two countries; they've got this moving thing _down_ by now. Harrison really appreciates it. Instead, he says, "It's all good, baby. I'm not feeling too stressed. Three hours and..." He checks the car clock. "Nineteen minutes!"

"Believe me, I'm counting the seconds at this point," says Drew.

"Me too. So how are you? How's the apartment, how are the cats?"

"The cats are good," Drew says. "Settling in fine. Chai got his shot, he was _very_ good, didn't bite the vet even once."

"Wow. Progress!"

Drew laughs. "Yes. The apartment's pretty nice, actually. I got a new head for the shower and that improved it a lot, I think you'll like it."

"My baby's got _skills_ ," Harrison says proudly.

He can _hear_ the blush. It's still ridiculously easy to make Drew blush, he just has to keep finding new tricks. "Not really, it just screws in."

"Yeah but you have to find one that fits and everything. Skills!"

"If you say so," says Drew, but he sounds amused, so that's fine.

"And you, how are you?" Drew reported on the apartment and the cats, but not himself.

"I'm..."

There's a pause. Harrison waits a moment, then says, "You're not okay?"

"I'm okay," Drew says. "I miss you. You know how - do you get that too, the closer we get to actually seeing each other, the longer it feels to wait?"

" _Yes,_ " Harrison says. "This day has been _unbearable_."

"Right? I can't wait to have you here."

"I can't wait to be there. I need a hug, Drew."

"Just a hug?" says Drew, and they both laugh for a little while.

Harrison is so tired of being five hundred miles apart.

But Drew will call him again as soon as he's off the air, and Harrison will be at the airport by then. He'll make sure it's a video call, so he can see Drew's sweet face, and he'll make Drew carry his phone around the apartment and show him all the cats. Or, actually, Drew will need to feed the cats before he leaves, so Harrison can just watch all the little furry bodies as they eat. Then he'll get on the plane, and Drew will get in the car. Harrison loves the romance of airport reunions. All that stress and exhaustion, then the first glimpse of Drew as he comes around a corner or through a doorway into arrivals. The moment Drew sees him and his face changes, from restless anxiety to relief and joy. Drew's arms, his solid body pressed against Harrison's. Their first kiss in almost three weeks. He can't wait.

"So we should get takeout on the way home?" Harrison says, making it a question. He doesn't feel a lot like cooking, just crashing on the couch with hot food and at least three of the cats. Three weeks since his last visit: that's too long to go without Drew, and it's _definitely_ too long to go without kitty cuddles.

"Nah," says Drew. "There's food, I made enchiladas."

"Okay, it's official. My stomach and I love you."

Drew laughs again. Harrison loves hearing him laugh so much. "Glad to hear it. Shit, that's the guitar solo."

"You better get back to work. I love you."

"You too. Have a safe trip, love."

"I will."

Harrison hangs up with the sun in his heart. As he turns onto the freeway, Drew's radio voice comes back: "That was _Hotel California_ by the Eagles. Okay, I think it's time for some texts. Listener Jay asks, why do you play _Hotel California_ after the three o'clock news every single day?" Drew laughs, a warm, genuine laugh that makes Harrison grin at the road ahead.

Old Drew, the Drew who hosted Kaleidotrope with Harrison, the Drew who had fought so hard against magic and tropes and true love, would have dodged and evaded the question. Would have said he liked the song, or promised to change it up, or... something. But Harrison didn't marry that Drew. Drew didn't marry that Harrison, either - the one who was so terrified to be real that he hid in a fantasy world. They were new people by then, and new people five years after that, and new people five years later, too.

They'll always be new people. But the beauty of this marriage is, they're new people together.

This Drew, the one that Harrison is married to now, begins, "So my husband's a college professor..."


End file.
